It is well known that two permanent magnets will attract or repulse one another at close distances depending on how the poles of the magnets are aligned. When aligned with the gravitational force vector, magnetic repulsion can be used to counteract gravity and lift an object. For the purposes of lifting an object and then moving it from one location to another location, magnetic repulsion is either unstable or too stable. In particular, opposing magnets can either be aligned such that the object remains in place but then can't be easily be moved to another location or the magnets can be aligned such that the object is easily moveable but won't remain in place but not both.
Another magnetic repulsion effect is associated with generating a moving magnetic field near a conductive object. When a permanent magnet is moved near a conductive object, such as a metal object, eddy currents are established in the conductive object, which generate an opposing magnetic field. For example, when a permanent magnet is dropped through a copper pipe, an opposing magnetic field is generated which significantly slows the magnet as compared to a non-magnetic object dropped through the pipe. As another example, in some types of electric motors, current is supplied to coils which interact with magnets to move the magnets. The moving magnets interact with the coils to induce eddy currents in the coils which oppose the flow of current supplied to the coils.
Magnetic forces including magnetic lift are of interest in mechanical systems to potentially orientate and move objects relative to one another while limiting the physical contact between the objects. One method of generating magnetic lift involves an electromagnetic interaction between moving magnetic fields and induced eddy currents. This approach, using eddy currents, is relatively undeveloped. In view of the above, new methods and apparatus for generating magnetic lift using eddy currents are needed.